Rethink Ireland is delighted to announce that 14 innovative organisations leading urgent change for people with disabilities have been awarded funding under the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 2024, a one-year €2.4 million fund.

The funding will allow non-profits working in communities to expand vital and effective disability participation and awareness programmes, services and products around Ireland. These projects, focused on accelerating access and skills-building for people with disabilities, are awarded with a combination of cash grants and business supports to increase their impact.

The Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 2024 was created in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), to support people with disabilities, following the success of the first Disability Participation and Awareness Fund, which funded 26 organisations across Ireland.

Meeting the goals of this fund, organisations will work to enhance community, social, cultural and physical participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of community life, promote disability awareness and training for people with disabilities at a local level, and promote innovation in supports and pathways for teenagers transitioning from secondary school through the use of innovative and meaningful services, products or programmes.

Anne Rabbitte TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Disability at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, commented: “I am very pleased to announce that 14 organisations around the country will be funded under the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 2024. We must continue to reinforce the fact that disability is an equality issue and this is a key indicator for the fund – accelerating the move towards equality for people with disabilities. There are fantastic programmes, projects and services coming from communities that focus on urgent change, increasing vital access and skills-building, and I am very happy to see these receiving support through this Fund towards progress for people with disabilities.”

Dr Karen Galligan, Head of Equality, Rethink Ireland said: “It is critical that we accelerate access for people with disabilities to bring participation levels in line within an equality mandate. The 14 organisations announced in the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 2024 are dedicated to making change and to building the skills that will underpin this change. Our partnership with Minister Anne Rabbitte and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is crucial to supporting forward-thinking organisations in our communities that understand and respond to the need for urgent change.”

John Sherwin, CEO, Irish Deaf Society spoke about receiving the award saying: “We are delighted to receive funding through Rethink Ireland that will help us to break barriers and open the door to increase awareness about our community in Irish society. With this project we can reach State organisations, business and the general public with positive messages about equality, accessibility, inclusion and the steps everyone can take to support us to achieve them. This funding will also support access to literacy resources for Deaf people as we start to develop a groundbreaking English Dictionary with explanations of words in ISL. The impact of this is hard to overestimate and provides a foundation for ongoing advocacy work in the future.”

Non-profit organisations awarded under the fund are:

• AsIAm
• Baboró International Arts Festival for Children
• ChildVision
• The Crann Centre
• HADD-ADHD Ireland
• Independent Living Movement Ireland
• Irish Deaf Society
• Migrant Health Alliance Ireland
• National Platform of Self Advocates
• NOW Training and Employment Enterprise
• Specialisterne Ireland CLG
• The Down Syndrome Centre
• Thriving Autistic
• Vision Ireland

To learn more about the awardee projects, visit the fund page.